From 13 January 2026, we no longer accept new case enquiries by email. Please use our online complaint form to bring a complaint to us. This helps us respond to you more quickly.

Need help? Other ways to contact us.

A2Dominion Housing Group Limited (202325555)

Back to Top

 

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202325555

A2Dominion Housing Group Limited

26 March 2025

 

Our approach

The Housing Ombudsman’s approach to investigating and determining complaints is to decide what is fair in all the circumstances of the case. This is set out in the Housing Act 1996 and the Housing Ombudsman Scheme (the Scheme). The Ombudsman considers the evidence and looks to see if there has been any ‘maladministration’, for example, whether the landlord has failed to keep to the law, followed proper procedure, followed good practice, or behaved in a reasonable and competent manner.

Both the resident and the landlord have submitted information to the Ombudsman, and this has been carefully considered. Their accounts of what has happened are summarised below. This report is not an exhaustive description of all the events that have occurred in relation to this case, but an outline of the key issues as a background to the investigation’s findings.

The complaint

  1. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s:
    1. Reports of antisocial behaviour (ASB).
    2. Concerns that the landlord changed her property to supported housing without consultation.

Background

  1. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord at the property, a flat. She moved into the property in 1988.
  2. On 1 October 2008 the landlord merged with another landlord. The resident said that in 2015 a housing officer said that her property had been categorised as supported housing. The resident has said that between 2015 and 2023 she asked the landlord multiple times to confirm:
    1. When it had changed her housing status from “general needs” to “supported housing”.
    2. Why had it changed the resident’s housing status without consulting her.
    3. How this change in her housing status would affect her tenancy rights.
  3. On 13 June 2023 the resident raised a complaint about the landlord’s handling of her concerns that the landlord changed her property to supported housing without consultation. The resident wanted the landlord to respond to her original request and also explain:
    1. What support had been available to her that she had not received.
    2. How did her housing status affect her in seeking to transfer to another property.
  4. The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response on 4 July 2023. The landlord said that the resident’s property was part of its supporting housing portfolio, but this did not mean the resident needed support. The resident asked the landlord to escalate her complaint. She said the landlord had not answered her questions and wanted to know why the landlord had not consulted her when it changed her property from general needs to supported housing.
  5. On 22 August 2023 the landlord provided a final response to the resident’s complaint. The landlord said that it would submit a report to its asset management panel (AMP) who had the authority to change the resident’s housing status. It said this panel would carry out an assessment to see if it could change the resident’s housing status to “general needs”. The landlord said it would then look into other options to assist the resident in transferring to another property if the panel was unable to change her current housing status.
  6. On 29 April 2024 the landlord agreed to change the resident’s housing status to “general needs”.
  7. The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s final response to her complaint. She brought her complaint to the Ombudsman stating that the landlord had not answered all aspects of her complaint. She also said that in February 2025, the landlord told her that its systems had recorded her housing status as both “general needs” and “supported housing”. She wanted the landlord to:
    1. Explain when it had first changed her housing status to supported housing without consultation.
    2. Put in writing that her housing status was general needs in line with its review in April 2024. The resident said she has asked for the landlord to do this repeatedly but is still waiting for a response.
    3. Apologise, and increase the level of compensation to address the distress and inconvenience caused to her.
    4. Investigate the ASB, which she said was because of residents living in the same area having a different housing status.

Assessment and findings

  1. When investigating a complaint, the Ombudsman applies its Dispute Resolution Principles. There are three principles driving effective dispute resolution: Be fair – treat people fairly and follow fair processes, put things right, and learn from outcomes.
  2. The Ombudsman must consider whether a failing on the part of the landlord occurred, and if so, whether this led to any adverse effect or detriment to the resident. If it is found that a failing did lead to an adverse effect, the investigation will consider whether the landlord has taken enough action to ‘put things right’ and ‘learn from outcomes.

Scope of investigation

  1. What we can and cannot consider is called the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. This is governed by the Housing Ombudsman Scheme. When a complaint is brought to the Ombudsman, we must consider all the circumstances of the case as there are sometimes reasons why a complaint will not be investigated.
  2. After carefully considering all the evidence, in accordance with paragraph 42.a. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the resident’s complaint about the landlord’s handling of her reports ASB is outside of the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. Paragraph 42.a. says that the Ombudsman may not consider complaints, which in the Ombudsman’s opinion are made prior to having exhausted a member’s [landlord’s] complaints procedure, unless there is evidence of a complaint-handling failure, and the Ombudsman is satisfied that the member has not taken action within a reasonable timescale.
  3. The resident has advised both the landlord and the Ombudsman that she wants the landlord to investigate her allegations of antisocial behaviour (ASB) at the property. We understand that this will have caused the resident distress and inconvenience. However, there is no evidence to show that the resident has raised a complaint to the landlord about its handling of any of her reports of ASB. The resident can submit her reports of ASB to the landlord.
  4. If the resident remains dissatisfied with how the landlord has investigated her reports of ASB, she can contact the landlord to raise a new complaint. This is because the landlord needs to have the opportunity to consider the resident’s complaint about its handling of her reports of ASB before we can assess it. If the landlord is then unable to resolve matters to her satisfaction through its complaints process, she may be able to refer the complaint to the Ombudsman for investigation at that stage once she has received the landlord’s final response to these points.
  1. Section 42.c. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme states that we may not consider complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion were not brought to the landlord as a formal complaint within a reasonable period, which would normally be within 12 months of the matters arising. We have taken into consideration that the resident has said she had been asking the landlord to respond to her concerns about her housing status being changed from “general needs” to “supported housing” for over 10 years. As events become historic it can become more difficult for the landlord or the Ombudsman to assess what happened. We understand that the landlord has said it had been unable to gather any information about the resident’s concerns about her housing status before its merger in 2008. Landlords are only obliged to keep records regarding information about residents for 6 years (aside from the start date of their tenancy), so it is reasonable that the landlord does not have records dating back further than this.
  2. The resident told the Ombudsman that she made a number of calls to the landlord about her concerns regarding her housing status between July 2022 and June 2023. We acknowledge what the resident has said. However, we have not been provided with any information or evidence about the resident’s contact with the landlord during that time about this issue. Therefore, we have been unable to assess the landlord’s handling of its communication with her at that time. In line with the Scheme, we have considered the landlord’s handling of these matters, where there is information for us to assess from the resident’s stage 1 complaint response on 13 June 2023 to the landlord’s final complaint response on 22 August 2023.
  3. As part of her complaint, the resident has raised concerns that her neighbour has also been affected by their housing status being categorised as ‘supported housing’. We acknowledge this and how this may have affected her neighbour. However, it is outside the Ombudsman’s remit to comment on this as the resident does not have the authority to raise a complaint on behalf of her neighbour. This is in line with paragraph 42.i. of the Scheme which says the Ombudsman may not consider complaints which in the Ombudsman’s opinion concern matters raised by a complainant on behalf of another without their authority. The neighbour can raise their own complaint if they wish to about their own housing status.

Concerns that the landlord changed the resident’s property to supported housing without consultation

  1. On 13 June 2023 the resident raised a complaint to the landlord about its handling of her concerns that it changed her property to supported housing without consultation.
  2. The landlord provided a complaint response at stage 1 of its process on 4 July 2024. The landlord confirmed that the resident’s property had been categorised as “supported housing” within its business portfolio. However, it failed to answer the resident’s specific queries about when her property’s catagory had changed, and how this would affect her ability to transfer to another property. The landlord should have acknowledged all of the queries raised by the resident as part of her complaint. If it did not know the answer to a particular point raised by the resident, it should have set this out in its response. This is evidence of poor communication where the landlord has failed to show it understood the resident’s complaint.
  3. We understand that the landlord’s response caused the resident distress and inconvenience. This was because the resident wanted to understand the impact the change in her housing status would have on her ability to transfer to another property that better suited her changing needs and health in the future.
  4. In the landlord’s final response to the resident’s complaint, it said the resident’s property was placed within its supported housing portfolio in 2008. This was during the landlord’s merger process. The landlord said it was unable to establish when the resident’s housing status was initially changed, or whether it consulted the resident about this at the time. This was a reasonable response by the landlord. This is because it had investigated the resident’s query and provided her with the information recorded on its systems. We do not doubt the resident when she said that she had never been consulted about the change in her housing status. However, landlords are only obliged to keep most records for 6 years. Therefore, it was unlikely that the landlord would have been able to answer the resident’s question in full, as it would not have been likely for it to have records dating back topre-2008.It was appropriate when the landlord explained this in its communication with the resident. It was also right that the landlord accepted that there was nothing in the resident’s tenancy agreement about her property being in supported housing.
  5. In the landlord’s final response to the resident’s complaint, it agreed to refer the resident’s concerns about her housing status to its asset management panel. This was an appropriate response because this panel was the authority that could review its decision regarding the resident’s housing status. This review was carried out on 29 April 2024. Following its review, the landlord said it would change the resident’s housing status to “general needs”. We have also seen evidence that the landlord updated the resident between December 2023 and May 2024 each month whilst she waited for its decision. The result of the review also means that the resident will now be able to consider transferring to another property, if she decides to do so in the future.
  1. The resident has said she is still waiting for the landlord to confirm in writing that her housing status has been changed to “general needs”. She has also said that during a phone call in February 2025, the landlord said it had recorded her housing status as both “general needs” and “supported housing”. The resident said she is still waiting for the landlord to update her regarding this anomaly in its records. The landlord should have written to the resident within 10 working days of its decision to change the category of her housing status to confirm the change. It should have also correctly updated its own records within that time. We understand that the landlord’s failure to follow up on these matters have caused the resident confusion, as well as added distress and inconvenience. We will make an order for:
    1. The landlord to check its computer system and record the resident’s housing status as general needs, as per its review on 29 April 2024. It needs to check that there are no references to the property currently being supported housing.
    2. A senior member of staff at the landlord, is to write to the resident confirming that her housing status is “general needs”.
  2. For the reasons described above, the Ombudsman makes a finding of service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s concerns that the landlord changed her property to supported housing without consultation.
  3. The Ombudsman’s remedies guidance (published on our website) sets out our approach to compensation. The £75 compensation awarded by the landlord is in line with the Ombudsman’s approach to compensation for cases where there has been service failure caused by the landlord’s errors, which caused distress and inconvenience to the resident. The remedies guidance gives examples of an award in this range where there has been a failure in the service provided by the landlord but there may not have been any permanent impact for the resident. For this reason we will not increase the level of compensation.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 42.a. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of ASB is not within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction to consider.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s concerns that the landlord changed her tenancy to supported housing without consultation.

Orders

  1. The landlord is to check its own systems and accurately record the resident’s housing status as general needs per its review on 29 April 2024. It must check that there are no current references to the property as “supported housing” on its systems. A senior member of staff at the landlord, is to then write to the resident confirming that it has taken this action, and that the resident’s housing status is categorised as “general needs”.
  2. The landlord is to pay the resident the £75 it awarded her in its stage 2 complaint response on 22 August 2023, unless this has already been paid.
  3. The landlord is to carry out these orders within 28 days of the date of this report. It is to share evidence with the Ombudsman that it has completed the orders by the same date.